Private Playgrounds: 5 of the Coolest Slides Inside Homes

Why stick with boring old stairs when you could be whisked down to the lower levels of your home on a slide? Architects demonstrate how fun interior design can be with playground-style slides in all shapes and sizes, integrated right into the layouts of family homes. Check out just how surprisingly elegant these structures can be, from swirling, mirrored, stainless steel tubes to gently sloping hallways that form a continuous loop around the house.

Skyhouse with an Indoor Slide by David Hotson and Ghislaine Vinas

A tentacle-like, tubular steel slide swirls its way through four stories of a penthouse apartment in New York City. Designed by architect David Hotson, the slide is an integral part of the interior design, its opening taking up an entire wall separating the living room from the dining room. It starts at the very top of the apartment, in an attic room surrounded by glass and winds around a column and through a window. Its mirrored, stainless steel surface is rippled for a funhouse-style effect.

Swirling Apartment Slide by Ki Design Studio

The owners of this split-level apartment in Ukraine wanted a fun way to get from the second floor to the first, so they commissioned Ki Design Studio to build a slide that would start at the edge of a loft platform and swirl around the edge of a vertical garden before ending in the relaxing living room, where spacious couches and a hammock offer plenty of space to lounge.

Panorama House by Moon Hoon

Famed Korean architect Moon Hoon designed the zigzag-shaped Panorama House in Chungbuk, South Korea as a fun family residence that’s just as playful inside as it is outside. The best part is inarguably the multi-functional staircase, which not only doubles as a library, but triples as a slide for a fast way to get down that’s also irresistible to kids.

The Rainbow House by AB Rogers

Located in a fashionable London neighborhood, the vibrant Rainbow House by designer AB Rogers is a traditional four-bedroom town home that was renovated in 2009 for maximum fun and personality. Wild prints, rainbow-colored spiral stairs, color-coordinated floors, conversation pits, and a bed that rotates 360 degrees are notable features, but the most fun by far is the slide linking a bedroom to the open-plan living room via a trap door in the floor.

Three-Story Concrete Spiral Slide by LEVEL Architects

From photos, it’s hard to tell just how long this slide is. But the floor plans of the three-story family residence by Yokohama-based firm Level Architects reveal a continuous route that starts with a cutout in the wall of the third floor, slides all the way down to the first floor, and then takes you back to the top via two flights of stairs. Running along the perimeter of the home, it’s a pretty ingenious addition, and makes you wonder why more houses don’t follow suit.

When Turett Collaborative Architects were tasked with connecting the interiors of two individual penthouse condos in New York City, they took a novel approach that delighted their East Village client, who wanted to merge the units while keeping them mostly distinct. The top of the half-tube, helical, stainless steel slide starts at the glassed-in top floor, which boasts stunning views of the skyline, pouring adventurous guests down into the living room through a new double-height atrium with glass balcony railings.